Poll Update: Latino Voters in the U.S. Primaries

How can US presidential candidates win Latino votes? Start talking about jobs and the economy.

35% of Latino voters are planning to skip primary voting, per one new poll.

With primary voting in several states with significant Latino populations on the near horizon, a new breakout sample of Latino voters in a national survey indicates the Democrats might not have as strong a hold on the Latino primary vote as they’ve had in other elections. Then again, Latinos are just as likely not to participate in a primary at all.

So how can candidates work to sway Latino voters? Start talking about jobs and the economy, for one, which was not only listed as the most important issue among voters in the survey, but one that was comparatively more important for Latino voters, along with education and crime.

Indeed, different issues take priority for different Latino communities in the United States, said former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson in New York on January 29. Richardson, a onetime Democratic presidential candidate, singled out public safety, the economy, and small businesses as top issues in the community. “I always said, if the Republicans get away from their bias against immigration and start talking to the community, we [Democrats] are going to be in trouble,” he said.